1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method for operating a medical imaging examination apparatus, particularly a magnetic resonance apparatus, wherein measured signals of an examination subject are sequentially registered and are processed by an image computer into image data signals for an individual image and a series of images.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic resonance apparatuses are being increasingly utilized for obtaining images in the examination of patients, since they enable a relatively stress-free examination of the patient as well as the assessment of a large variety of body areas. The basic functioning of magnetic resonance apparatus is well-known. To an increasing degree, however, there is a demand for reproducibility of the registered examination results or of the registered images. This is required in order, for example, to be able to compare images respectively registered with a time offset therebetween or images registered with different magnetic resonance apparatuses. Independently of location and time of examination, the result should always be essentially the same or at least comparable.
This, however, is not possible due to the standard operating method of known magnetic resonance apparatus. The quality of the registered images is highly dependent on the ability, the motivation and the experience of the operator, as well as on the quality of the magnetic resonance apparatus, the preceding anamnesis, the perception of the patient and other factors. Reproducibility is usually hardly possible due to these many factors affecting the image quality, which are mostly of a subjective nature and dependent on the participating persons. Added thereto as a complicating factor is that an attempt is always made to keep the examination duration optimally short in order to keep the operating time of the device per examination patient as short as possible and, thus, to obtain a system work throughput that is as high as possible. Ultimately, this operating mode leads to highly fluctuating quality standards and to a frequent change in physicians, since patients are re-examined by a different physician after an examination that seems unsatisfactory.